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What is Personality?
The distinct patterns of behavior,
thoughts, and feelings that
characterize a person’s adjustment
to the demands of life.
Historically, people have had
different views of personality.
Personality Theories
Psychodynamic
Learning Theories
Humanistic Theory
Trait Theories
Sociocultural
Psychodynamic Theories
• There are several Psychodynamic
theories. Each can be traced back to
Sigmund Freud.
• Personality is characterized by a dynamic
struggle between elements of the
personality.
Sigmund Freud’s Theory
• Freud believed that
the human mind
was like an iceberg.
• In terms of the
thoughts and
impulses in our
minds, we are only
aware of the “tip of
the iceberg.”
Sigmund Freud (cont.)
• Freud hypothesized that we have
several psychic structures that make
up the personality and clash with one
another.
• These structures are the Id, Ego and
Superego.
The “Id”
• The id is present at
birth and represents
our instinctual drives
such as hunger, sex
and aggression.
• The id is completely
unconscious and
operates on the
“pleasure principle.”
55 miles per
hour? How dull.
I want to travel
at excessive
speeds. I want
95 mph!
The “Ego”
• The ego begins to
develop during the first
year of life and
balances the id’s urges
with reality. Hence, the
ego is guided by the
“Reality Principle”
• While doing most of its
work in the conscious, a
portion is working
beneath the surface.
Ah…Id? Let us be
realistic… I would
suggest that we
only drive 5 miles
above the speed
limit…
Defense Mechanisms
• When the ego is threatened by unconscious
impulses, it will employ defense mechanisms to
protect the conscious self.
The “Superego”
• The superego is the
embodiment of societal
rules, ethics and morals.
• The superego sets high
standards for behavior
and monitors the
decisions of the ego.
The superego causes
feelings of guilt and
shame when its
standards aren’t met.
The speed limit
is 55. You
should only
travel 55. No
higher!
Psychosexual Stages
• Oral Stage: Sexual gratification is obtained
through oral activities. Fixation may lead to
gullibility, smoking, alcohol abuse, nail biting
and/or excessive optimism/pessimism.
• Anal Stage: Sexual gratification is obtained
through contraction and relaxation of the
muscles that control elimination (Fixation may
lead to anal-retentive or anal-expulsive traits).
Psychosexual Stages (cont.)
• Phallic Stage: Libidinal energy is shifted to the
phallic regions (penis for boys and clitoris for girls).
• Oedipus Complex: A conflict of the phallic stage in
which the boy wishes to possess his mother sexually
and perceives his father as a rival.
• Electra Complex: Similar to the Oedipus complex in
that a young girl longs for her father and resents her
mother.
Psychosexual Stages
• Latency Stage: The pressures of the Oedipus and
Electra complexes cause children to repress their
sexual urges and enter a period of latency where
their urges remain unconscious.
• Genital Stage: The mature stage of psychosexual
development, characterized by the preferred
expression of libido via intercourse with an adult of
the opposite gender.
Other Psychodynamic Theorists
• Carl Jung: Unlike Freud, Jung viewed the sexual instinct as just
one of many important instincts. Jung also believed in a
unifying force of personality (the “Self”) that gives direction
and purpose to human behavior. Believed in a capacity for
self-awareness and self-direction.
• Alfred Adler: Believed that people are motivated by an
inferiority complex. This inferiority complex therefore, leads to a
drive for superiority. Like Jung, Adler believed in a capacity for
self-awareness.
• Karen Horney: Unlike Freud, Horney argued that little girls do
not suffer penis envy. She believed that interpersonal
relationships were more influential in childhood development
than sexual impulses. She put forth the notion that genuine
and consistent love can alleviate the effects of a traumatic
childhood.
Erik Erikson
• Whereas Freud focused on sexual
energy as a developmental force,
Erikson viewed the social world as a
much more important component of
our development.
• Hence, Erikson’s theory is labeled
Psychosocial instead of Psychosexual.
Erikson’s Stages of
Psychosocial Development
Learning Theories
• Learning theories focus upon our ability
to learn and adapt to the
environments in which we find
ourselves.
• Two prominent theories are
Behaviorism and Social-Cognitive
Theory.
Behaviorism
• A school of psychology that explains
and predicts behavior in terms of the
environmental stimuli acting upon an
organism and the organism’s
subsequent responses.
Classical Conditioning
• A simple form of
learning in which
one stimulus comes
to bring forth the
response usually
brought forth by a
second stimulus as
a result of being
paired repeatedly
with the second
stimulus.
Classical Conditioning (cont.)
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A
stimulus that elicits a response from
an organism without learning. (In
Pavlov’s classic experiment, the meat was the
UCS).
• Unconditioned Response (UCR): An
unlearned response. A response to
an unconditioned stimulus. (In Pavlov’s
experiment, salivation was the UCR).
Classical Conditioning (cont.)
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously
neutral stimulus that elicits a conditioned
response because it has been paired
repeatedly with a stimulus that already
brought forth that response. (In Pavlov’s
experiment, the bell started as a Neutral Stimulus
and become the CS).
• Conditioned Response (CR): A response to a
conditioned stimulus. (In Pavlov’s experiment,
the salivatory response began as an UCR but
becomes a CR as the dog salivates to the sound of
the bell.)
Association
NS
(Bell)
↕ Pairings
UCS
(Meat)
↔
UCR
(Salivation)
Operant Conditioning
• A simple form of learning in which the
frequency of behavior is increased (by
means of reinforcement) or decreased
(by means of punishment).
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcer: A reinforcer that
increases the frequency of behavior when it
is presented (an example would be to
reward behavior by giving something
pleasant such as food or money).
• Negative Reinforcer: A reinforcer that
increases the frequency of behavior when it
is removed (an example would be to
reward behavior by taking away an
unpleasant task such as doing the dishes).
Punishment
• Punishment is an unpleasant stimulus
that suppresses behavior.
• Punishment is often used because it
can quickly suppress behavior.
However, psychologists suggest
utilizing reinforcement due to the
inherent weaknesses of punishment.
Reinforcement versus Punishment
Weaknesses of Punishment
• Punishment does not in and of itself suggest
an alternate, acceptable form of behavior.
• Punishment suppresses the behavior only so
long as the delivery is guaranteed. For
example, if parents are inconsistent with
punishment, children learn very quickly how
to “get away with murder” with one parent
and not the other.
• Punishment may be imitated as a way of
solving problems. Thus, a child might strike
another at school as a way of dealing with
their frustrations.
Social-Cognitive Theory
• A cognitively oriented theory in which
observational learning, values and
expectations play major roles in
determining behavior.
• Reciprocal determinism: Albert
Bandura’s term for the social-cognitive
view that people influence their
environment just as their environment
influences them.
Social-Cognitive (cont.)
• Observational Learning: Unlike behaviorism,
social-cognitive theory holds that we can
learn simply by observation. However,
whether or not we engage in the behavior
we have learned depends upon both
situation and personal variables.
• Person Variables: Factors within the person
that influence behavior (examples include:
competencies, encoding strategies,
expectancies, emotions, self-regulatory
systems and plans).
Person and Situation Variables
Humanistic-Existential Theories
• Humanism: The view that people are
capable of free choice, self-fulfillment,
and ethical behavior.
• Existentialism: The view that people
are completely free and responsible
for their own behavior.
Self-Actualization
• An innate tendency to
strive to realize one’s
potential. The goal to
“be all you can be”.
• Maslow believed that
we progress from one
level to the next, but
only if the needs of the
prior level are met.
Thus, self-actualization
is difficult if we are
homeless.
Rogers’ Self Theory
• Rogers believed that each of us is
unique and views the world from a
unique frame of reference. He felt
that if we are given unconditional
positive regard, we would develop our
unique abilities and talents.
Unconditional Positive Regard
• Acceptance of
others as having
intrinsic merit
regardless of their
behavior of the
moment.
Consistent
expression of
esteem for the
value of another
person.
Trait Theories
• A school of psychology that attempts to
understand personality by classifying,
measuring and interrelating relatively stable
aspects of personality known as traits.
• Hippocrates believed that traits are
embedded in people’s bodily fluids and
personality depends upon the balance of
these fluids: Yellow bile (quick-tempered),
blood (warm, cheerful), phlegm (calm,
cool) and black bile (gloomy).
What is a Trait?
• A trait is a relatively stable aspect of
personality that is inferred from
behavior and assumed to give rise to
consistent behavior. In other words, an
individual will display this trait in most
situations.
• Examples of traits include: Quiet,
impulsive, outgoing, moody, calm,
optimistic, anxious, reliable, etc.
The Five-Factor Model
Sociocultural Theories
• The view that focuses on the roles of
ethnicity, gender, culture, and
socioeconomic status in personality,
behavior and adjustment.
Individualism vs. Collectivism
• Individualist: A person who defines
herself or himself in terms of personal
traits and gives priority to her or his own
goals.
• Collectivist: A person who defines
herself or himself in terms of
relationships to other people and
groups and gives priority to group
goals.
The Self in relation to others
Personality Assessment
• Psychologists assess personality for a
variety of reasons: to help individuals
make academic or vocational
choices, to identify psychological
problems or to help organizations
make successful hiring decisions.
• The two most common forms of
assessment are projective and
objective types of tests.
Objective Test: The MMPI
Projective Test: The Rorschach
Projective Test: TAT
Copyright
Copyright 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New
York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material
protected by this copyright may be reproduced or
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